INVERNESS sign at the boardwalk
August 2, 2023
-by April MacDonald
With this sign in place, the sun will continue to shine through her and in her memory, for all to enjoy.
Last week, there was curiosity and much excitement surrounding what was being installed at the end of the wooden walkway leading down to Inverness’s main beach.
Large holes were being dug and people were in awe of the beauty what was erected, but the story goes much deeper than a sign that says “INVERNESS.”
There were countless posts, pictures, likes, and shares all over social media.
Reaching out to The Oran was Jen Ryan, a local business owner and an incredibly dedicated volunteer in this community.
Ryan wanted people to know the whole story behind the sign.
She sent this to us:
Story of the Sign and Dedication:
We’d like to start off by sharing a little bit of the Sunset Sign’s story. For many years, as you well know, Raylene [MacLean] has been a part of the School Advisory Council and the Playground Committee in Inverness. Then about eight years ago, this group started to take shape from conversations we were all having. We were wondering: what does our community need to feel more connected? How do we create more opportunities for families, for children, for elders and for each other? Together, this group co-founded the Inverness Women’s Group and then Cape Breton West Women in Business.
Together we had a lot of fun, we laughed a lot, we learned a lot and we had a lot of plans.
When COVID hit, so much changed. It was difficult to get back into project work, to think about being that busy, to work at that pace but an exceptional opportunity came along.
In the spring of 2021, we were approached by our Municipality about project funding from the Nova Scotia COVID Response Council at Dalhousie, being administered by Build Nova Scotia.
The Municipality nominated our group as the potential funding recipient of $50,000. The funding was part of a post-COVID strategy to kick-start economic activity in rural communities. It asked us to think about projects that attract tourists and highlight new ways of using spaces and places in our community.
We came together to discuss the opportunity and, in part, because it meant getting this team back together, we decided to go for it! We also knew it was time to grow in new directions and recruit some new team members.
We reformed as Elevate Inverness for this project.
We decided the next step was to go to community and ask: What do you want to see for your community?
Many people don’t love or participate in traditional community consultations. So, we decided to build a really fun day of music in the park, music at the beach and activities for all ages. Then, we included opportunities for consultation and conversation throughout the day. It was amazing and we heard so many really fascinating ideas.
But, one of the unexpected things we heard a few times: people wanted an iconic image that captures the beauty of the landscape but also celebrates the town of Inverness.
We thought this was really interesting and put out a call for ideas of what this could look like.
Needless to say, we were all fully blown away when Raylene came to the next meeting with a sketch of this sign. The energy in the room was electric. She was excited and so were we. So, we set out to begin the building process. Raylene knew exactly who she wanted to work with in the building of her design.
She reached out to Eric MacLean of EML Solutions to translate her design into a digital format and Tyson MacLean of CaperGael Metalworks for the craftsmanship and incredible fabrication of the sign.
We can’t say enough about Eric and Tyson’s expertise and interest in going through this process with us.
All community projects have their own pathway and we’ve had a lot of support in this process: our funders - Build NS, the special projects team at the Municipality – especially Kathy Hannigan who has really championed the work, of course - Tyson MacLean and Eric MacLean and Cabot Cape Breton.
Once the building of the sign was in motion, it was time to decide where it should be placed. We worked through many ideas and visited a few locations but this location had our hearts from the very beginning. Last fall we came down and walked the boardwalk, imagined how it would line up, measured everything several times and this is the location that Raylene selected.
From the very first conversation about possible land usage, because this is Cabot’s property – Cabot Cape Breton has been a very interested and enthusiastic community partner. Thank you to Andrew Alkenbrack for early conversation and most recently – Kendall Clancy and Beth MacLellan for jumping in and being as excited about the project as we were.
We all knew the sign was going to mean so much to our community, to visitors, to every single person who visited our beautiful beach and boardwalk.
Working with Raylene through the last number of years has been such a gift and such a joy. We’re so grateful for the many, many ways Raylene loved this community.
We have included a dedication plate on the sign, this one is a bit temporary until we get something a bit more suitable for all of our seasons but we’d like to share these words with you now.
It says:
This sign is a celebration. Designed by Raylene MacLean to capture the natural beauty of our coast and its glorious sunsets, it has also come to honour the spirit of Raylene’s love for her community.
The idea for this project came from conversations amongst volunteers who recognized a local desire to easily share the magic of seaside living with others. Raylene sketched an image that created both a moment of recognition for Inverness, while also allowing the gorgeous sun and sky to come through in all their splendor. Magic.
We’re so thankful for this sign and Raylene’s reminder to celebrate the beauty around us. She carried our entire community in her heart and shared her bright light so generously. Raylene continues to shine on in so many beautiful ways, especially through those she held dearest. With this sign in place, the sun will continue to shine through her and in her memory, for all to enjoy.
Thank you, Raylene!”
